![]() ![]() “It’s literally a board for talking to dead people,” Blum said. He said the board, which has made memorable appearances in the first two “Paranormal Activity” movies he produced, offered plenty of fodder for a scary movie. “Ouija” came back to life under the hand of low-budget horror producer Jason Blum, who runs Blumhouse. Sony also has “Monopoly.” 20th Century Fox Film has “Magic: The Gathering,” based on the fantasy trading card game. “Candy Land” is in the hands of Adam Sandler and his company, Happy Madison Productions, which is developing the film for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Although Hasbro is still planning movies for Universal, other projects have been scattered throughout the studio system. ![]() The Hasbro-Universal pact has since fallen apart. Universal scrapped the grand plans in 2011 over concerns that the budget would make it hard to turn a profit. ![]() box office with just $65 million in domestic ticket sales on a production budget of more than $200 million.Īt one point, “Ouija” was expected to cost more than $100 million, and a top-notch director had been brought on to see the movie through. Universal had committed huge sums to make tent-pole features out of “Battleship” and “Ouija” and pledged to churn out one board game movie a year. Hasbro and Universal Pictures in 2008 announced plans to turn at least four game titles into feature films, including “Monopoly,” “Candy Land” and “Magic, the Gathering.” “That holds true for brands like Transformers as much as it does for Ouija.”Īfter Michael Bay’s first “Transformers” movie blew up at the box office, Hasbro took an aggressive swing at the film market. “With any re-imagination of a brand, you may have core characters, you may have a lore and canon like with Transformers, but you also want to create a more expansive world because it’s about creating something new, something fresh,” Davis said. The PG-13-rated “Ouija,” produced by Blumhouse Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures, is poised to gross $20 million or more at the box office through the weekend, according to people who have seen pre-release audience surveys ― a strong result considering it only cost $5 million to make.Īnalysts say one problem with making movies out of games is the difficulty of translating the thin source material for the big screen, when filmmakers have just a title, basic premise and plastic game pieces to start with.īut Davis said inspiration from a game shouldn’t be a handicap. On his wall hangs a framed New Yorker cartoon in which a child with a Ouija board says “It’s like texting, but for dead people.” The box-office prospects for “Ouija,” which opens Friday, have Hasbro Studios president Stephen Davis in high spirits as he sits in his Burbank office filled with Optimus Prime, My Little Pony and Action Man toys. Now Hasbro hopes that its Ouija board will divine a better fortune. Of the multiple games Hasbro has primed for development in the last few years, just one has been released ― the 2012 dud “Battleship.” Much earlier, the campy 1985 version of “Clue” bombed at the multiplex. is also busy making TV shows and movies based on its toys.īut board games have proved to be tricky. and Village Roadshow’s “The Lego Movie.” Barbie and Hot Wheels maker Mattel Inc. This year, rival Lego broke into Hollywood in a big way with Warner Bros. ![]() Hasbro is not alone in trying to profit off the toy craze. “Transformers” movies have grossed about $3.75 billion in ticket sales worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, and “G.I. Movies based on board games have not done much business at cinemas, in contrast to the hits Hasbro has generated with some of its toys and action figures. The problem: Audiences have yet to buy in. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |